New Delhi: The rescue mission to avoid wasting 41 males trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand has hit a roadblock. The machine that was imagined to drill by way of the mountain has failed. International tunneling skilled Arnold Dix, who’s overseeing the rescue mission, has vowed to carry the employees dwelling by Christmas. “The drilling, augering has stopped. It’s too much for the auger (machine), it is not going to do anything more,” mentioned micro tunneling skilled Arnold Dix on Uttarkashi tunnel rescue. He added that the rescue workforce is exploring different choices, however they’re additionally aware of the security of the lads and the rescuers.(*41*)
“We are looking at multiple options, but with each option we are considering how do we make sure that 41 men come home safe and we don’t hurt anyone. The mountain has again resisted the auger, so we are rethinking our approach,” he mentioned. Despite the challenges, Dix expressed his confidence that the 41 males will probably be freed by Christmas. “I am confident that the 41 men are coming home by Christmas,” he mentioned.(*41*)
The destiny of 41 labourers trapped contained in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand for the previous 13 days hangs within the steadiness because the rescue operation faces a number of challenges. The machine that was imagined to bore by way of the particles and create a passage for the employees has encountered a steel impediment, forcing the rescuers to cease drilling on Friday night time. This is the newest setback within the multi-agency effort that started on November 12 when a landslide prompted part of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham path to collapse.
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The rescuers had managed to push a 46.8-metre-long metal pipe into the drilled gap, out of the estimated 60-metre-long blocked stretch. They had additionally inserted a six-inch-wide tube to produce meals, medicines and different necessities to the employees, who’re in a two-kilometre-long part of the tunnel. The tube additionally enabled the employees to speak with their family and the rescue workforce, and to ship photographs of their situation by way of an endoscopic digicam.
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However, with the drilling machine failing to make additional progress, the rescuers are contemplating different choices akin to manually drilling the remaining 10 to 12 metres or making a vertical escape passage from the highest of the tunnel.(*41*)
An official mentioned that guide drilling is a slower course of, whereas vertical drilling is a extra sophisticated and exact one. An enormous drilling machine was moved to the hill above the tunnel on Saturday morning, the place two spots with the bottom elevation have been recognized by specialists for vertical drilling. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has already constructed a 1.5-km entry highway to the highest of the tunnel for this goal.
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The repeated delays and difficulties have made the family of the trapped employees anxious and impatient. “For the last two days we are being assured by officials that they (trapped workers) are being evacuated soon but something or the other happens and the process gets delayed,” mentioned Devender Kisku from Banka in Bihar, whose brother Virender Kisku is among the many trapped employees. (*41*)
